Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Powers of the Titan's Age: New Icons for 13th Age

ICON-OGRAPHY
Last Wednesday we used Microscope to
do world-building for our new 13th Age campaign. You can see my write-up of that here. In the process I had the players design
some of the Icons. The rest I came up with the next day. In play we sketched out four of the thirteen (and referenced three others in the history). Below you'll see the fleshed out versions of Icons for this campaign (which I'm calling Shadow of the Titan). All of them can act as patrons, enemies,
or antagonists. Each one has a network of followers or agents across
the realm.

In the descriptions below I've used alignment terminology to generally position these Icons. These are rough
determinations, just to give a general sense of what they're like. With
rare exceptions, they aren't locked into that. The text in red indicates
material straight from the world-building session. At the end I've added an alignment chart showing the Icon's general positions. I'll probably add arrows later showing movement. The images below come from http://game-icons.net/ and all come from Lorc's amazing work.

Most Icons are Undying, strange immortal figures, or Mantle-bearers, suggesting
a role that arises or is passed down. What an Icon looks like or does shifts
from era to era, depending on the philosophies or events. As with the gods
themselves, the Icons have been known to vanish or completely transform over
the ages. No one speaks of The Shipwright or the Skinner of Souls in these
present times.

ICONS

THE CROWSWORN PIRATE: Leader and patriarch of the many bands of pirates
across the waters. He is a patron of rogues, scoundrels, and those who value
freedom over order and rules. The Pirate vacillates between being a
vicious bully and a noble force for freedom. He despises rules and order-
except those he imposes. Personal ambition and greatness, done in a flashy or
loud manner matter to him. He values service and loyalty. When the new
Crowsworn Pirate serves rough justice, he’s welcomed in The Unconquered Port.
But when he embraces plunder and pillage, he’s banned from their docks. The
present Pirate suffers under such a ban, and she seethes at it. (CN/NE)

THE SEWER RAT:
Hope and change for the dispossessed, the poor, refugees, victims, the oppressed
and all others with low power or status. Also known as the Orphan
and the Scrounger. The Sewer Rat appears to be one of the Undying, seen across
the islands offering support and aid to the fallen. While he’s generally
referred to as “he,” the Sewer Rat is equally likely to appear as a young
woman. He has eyes and ears among the Beggar Ships, city urchin networks, and
travelling drifters. Many of the Rom are said to act as his agents, but this
may be more rumor about these mysterious people. The Sewer Rat is generally
considered a force for good, but has been known to support and plan acts of
retribution and revenge against exploiters, abusers, and the wicked among the
wealthy. Hence this Icon is avoided by those in a position of nobility. The
exception comes from those few who have managed to make it good and turn their
fortune back to aiding others. (CG)

SURGEON PENITENT:
This miserable creature roams the earth, giving comfort to all manner of the
wretched. The myriad of infections and afflictions, boils and bloating,
parasites and symbiotes, has rendered it completely androgynous and almost
inhuman to behold. Through time spent ministering in leper colonies and plague zones,
it has gained the ability to gather all disease into itself and away from the
sufferer. Supplicants can take on the scars and gain the ability to heal others.
The Surgeon tends to any in need of care, regardless of race, beliefs,
or past. This often brings agents of the Surgeon into conflict with
authorities. It is unclear whether the Surgeon is an Undying figure or if there
have been many over the ages. The hideous visage of this Icon makes any
determination uncertain. (NG)

THE SPIRIT KING: A strange ageless hermit who often lives on one of the mammoth
sea-turtles. He guides those who come to eat the proper fruit to enhance and
commune with their spirit. The Spirit King focuses on personal power and
self-empowerment. He dismisses worship of divine figures and, at his most
radical, service to any authority figure. Sometimes he is more ascetic,
teaching people how to gain greater understanding of their soul spirit through
mediation and Lotus consumption. But he can also be hedonistic, pushing
students to indulge in all forms of intoxicants and sensory-expanding herbs.
Despite being such an odd figure of the wilderness, the Spirit King is
respected as a mystical figure, often looked to by Druids. Those who wish to
learn to better harness their magic items will make pilgrimages to study under
the Spirit King or one of his disciples. (CN/TN)

THE EMPRESS:The Empress of Humanity has
long stood for preservation, defense, and the solidity of Empire. Her ritual
murder by agents of the Siren set off this dark century. The shattering of her
magics released forces which slew the vast majority of humanity, leaving
cities, islands, and nations stripped and emptied. In the wake of her death,
several tried to assume her Mantle and failed. Notably other races have
attempted to find a way to understand and seize that role, but none have
succeeded. Connections to this Icon still exist in two ways. The Crown Wardens
remain as an order devoted to hiding and preserving relics of the Empress. They
work to stabilize the pocket of human empire still remaining. On the other
hand, rumors exist of a Child Empress born not long ago who gave the Five Signs
of Recognition and may be the first legitimate heir to the Empress’ power. (LG)

THE AGELESS HAG:The Ageless Hag is a
maker, a creator, and a figure of unbridled change and birth. She shows this by
crafting monsters. Most of the time she dwells at the edge of the Known World,
close to the Rainwalls. But from time to time she makes pilgrimages across the
waters. Where she finds an empty place- like an island scoured by storms, she
sets new life upon it. This can be a problem, especially since her definition
of untended and empty may differ from those of natives. The Ageless Hag swept
through in the wake of humanity’s decimation, filling now empty cities,
castles, and realms with new monstrous inhabitants. Her magic is wild, making
her the patron of some Sorcerers and Chaos Magi. Generally she takes a neutral
position on affairs, standing only in opposition to those who worship death
itself. She maintains a strong network across the lands via messenger beasts. (TN)

THE PRINCE OF SHADOWS:This figure is
much as presented in the main 13th Age material. The interesting
difference here lies in his weird mirror image of the Crowsworn Pirate. Both
value a kind of radical individual freedom, but the Prince of Shadows works
quietly and in the shadows. (CN)

LEVIATHAN:
Beneath the waves lies the great beast, Leviathan, representing the dark and
dangerous forces of nature itself. He is the bringer of thunderous power
against those who do not grant him the proper respect and invocations.
Leviathan is said to gnaw at the foot of the Titan, desiring his demise and
collapse to bring the Sea of the Sky together with the Sea of the World. Leviathan
often has greater concerns than the affairs of common mortals or at least it
keeps up the appearance that it does. Leviathan acts and interferes with them
at will, striking down ships, shifting currents, and gifting them with
dangerous powers. Leviathan is the patron of Necromancers and Sorcerers, who
strike deadly bargains for his talents. Leviathan’s fleet of soul-haunted Ivory
Ships often herald the great beast’s attention in worldly affairs. (NE)

THE SIREN: Where there is order, the
Siren wishes chaos. Where there is the rule of law, the Siren wishes anarchy.
Where there is hope, the Siren wishes despair. The Siren wishes to overturn all
established ways- among both the forces of light and dark. She does this
through corruption, seduction, promises of power, and simply unleashing pent-up
furies. Why she does this remains uncertain? Sometimes when she arises she
comes as a burning warlord, sometimes as a calculating vizier, and others
simply as a crazed murderess content with haunting lost fleets. The Siren
orchestrated the ritual killing of Empress at the beginning of this century,
leading to the decimation of humanity. Some have suggested her current
incarnation is behind the dark turn of Fathrist and his use of demons, pointing
to her own skilled infernal powers. (CE)

THE OPAL HAND: The Hand may or
may not exist, or rather they exist but no one knows for certain who or what
they are. Or rather, they have a certainty but no one can prove it. If we take
rumor as fact then the Opal Hand is led by a secret hereditary council, made up
of leaders from many different races. They worked behind the scenes, carefully
combining rumor-weaving, magics, espionage and sabotage to serve their ends. They
worked to ensure that the human majority would never come to dominate over all
of the seas and lands. To that end they carefully undermined rules and
eliminated those who might unite humanity. They sought not conquest or
dominion, but instead to maintain balance and parity. Then the Empress died,
taking with her four-fifths of humanity. Now the role and purpose of the Opal
Hand is in flux. Will they maintain their neutrality or instead move to finish
what the Siren began? (LN)

THE WARSINGER: Where there are
rumblings and rumors of war, there stands the Warsinger. He sees glory, progress,
and profit in it. War tempers and crushes the weak underfoot. But more
importantly it forges legends. The Warsinger brings together those who desire
and profit from bloodshed- turning mercenaries into pillaging hordes and exiles
into pretender kings. He is potent and deadly, a banner-bearer at the
frontlines. But more importantly he whispers in the ears of those who feel they
could seize control, could lead an army, could cast their brother from the
throne. He preaches war and speaks of the beauty and grandeur of it. The
Warsinger has agents among both warrior clans and bards who’ve made terrible
bargains. It is said that he currently holds the fallen city-state of
Vos-Landok, but moves around the seas carried on an enslaved dragon. The
Warsigner has been defeated in the past, but each time the song empowering him
finds another to take his place in the cycle. (LE)

THE BRASS MAN: Ruling from the
City-State of Crux, The Brass Man presents a mysterious figure. Seven feet
tall, he could be a person clad in ornamental armor, an automaton, or something
from the Ancients. His markings and designs have changed over time, suggesting
to some that there have been man Brass Men. Despite shifts and
reconfigurations, he always appears as a somewhat stylized version of the Sky
Titan. The Brass Man commissions adventurers, gifts the worthy, and aids the
oppressed. In that, he occupies a role close to the Empress- but without the
ideas of empire and management. In fact the Brass Man’s good works can often be
interrupted when the opportunity comes for him to pitch a campaign against legendary
monsters or great beasts. He has been known to leave campaigns in mid-battle to
take up his role as a relentless huntsman wielding strange magics. (LG/NG)

GRANDFATHER TURTLE: Teacher,
mentor, advisor, oracle, and master of the high arcana, Grandfather Turtle
safeguards magic in the realm. One of the massive island-like sea-turtles, he
trains students in new arts and spells if he believes they use those tools to
aid the world. While he appears sedentary and silent, few doubt his power. Even
Leviathan avoids confronting him directly, preferring to carry out their
clashes via agents. Grandfather Turtle plays a long game. While it might not
seem that he wishes to interfere, instead he carefully maneuvers persons and
players into position. He is a patron to all those who use magic for good ends.
While he does not teach chaos magic or necromancy, he and his closest will
educate those who follow the path of the Sorcerer. (LG)